Most automobile cabs are equipped with at least one light that illuminates the cab interior. The light allows the automobile occupants to see at night or in a dark environment, and is typically controllable by some sort of switch that an occupant can manipulate when the occupant needs additional lighting. The light is also typically connected to a switch that is automatically turned on when an automobile door is opened in order to provide lighting as an occupant enters or exits the automobile, or when a person is removing cargo from the automobile cab.
In addition to one or more cab lights, most automobiles that have cargo compartments such as trunks equipped with a light to aid a person's vision as they remove their cargo from the compartment. The cargo compartments can typically be opened and closed with a latched door. The cargo compartment light is electrically coupled to a switch that is automatically turned on when the cargo compartment door is opened in order to provide lighting as an occupant removes the cargo from the compartment.
The cargo compartment light switch is also electrically coupled to a timer as a battery saving feature. The timer stops the flow of current to the switch after a predetermined period of time, and consequently deactivates the cargo compartment light. The timer is a valuable feature because people might unload cargo at their destination and then forget to return to the automobile to shut the cargo compartment door. However, the timer can also be a nuisance when a person has too much cargo in the compartment to unload in a single trip. If the timer is set to deactivate the cargo compartment light after a short period, a person will return to the automobile to retrieve a second load, only to be without sufficient lighting to see the cargo that is to be removed.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a battery saving system and method for deactivating a cargo compartment light or other interior light to prevent an automobile battery from discharging when an automobile door is left open. In addition, it is desirable to provide a system and method for providing lighting to a person that must intermittently return to the automobile after the battery saving system has caused the light to be deactivated. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.